NEWSLETTER No. 2 (English)   17th March, 2005 
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International Democratic 
Education Conference

IDEC 2005 Berlin 

July 30th - August 7th 
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The 13th International Democratic Education Conference will 
take place from July 30th until August 7th in Germany in 
Berlin. There is extensive information on our website. Much 
of it is now complete. We invite you to look around in it: 
-> http://idec2005.org

1.  Registration 
2.  Current students and recent leavers 
3.  Programme 
4.  Money and fundraising 
5.  Publicity


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1.  Registration

Many people have told us that they are going to register, 
but they haven't actually registered. That makes our work 
more difficult. Please register now.

As an encouragement we are offering a special registration 
time from the 19th to the 21st of March. 

During this time you will be able to register at the 
February price of 270 euros. Submitting your registration 
will be enough, payment will come later.
-> http://en.idec2005.org/registration/

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2.  Current students and recent leavers

Current school students and recent leavers will be involved 
in the setting-up of the IDEC in Berlin. A steering group 
has begun to concern itself with young people's ways of 
seeing, problems and suggestions.

Former students from Sands School, England, have offered 
help.

We ask you to pass this information on to all students, or 
as many as possible, so that they can take part. They can 
make direct contact: 
-> students@idec2005.org

We are convinced that the more involved students and recent 
leavers are, the more successful the IDEC will be.


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3. Programme

The programme for the IDEC is still not settled in detail. 
However, we would like to give precise information soon, 
particularly for Part B, the public part of the conference. 
For that purpose we need suggestions and concrete 
contributions to the discussion. Who would like to lead a 
workshop or a discussion group about one of the themes and 
key issues?

Our request for contributions: 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/registration/a/#3

The list of key issues: 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/themes/


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4. Money and Fundraising

We still need financial support. For that reason we have 
created a detailed web page.

We have special packages for sponsors: 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/sponsoring/

and a wish-list for donations: 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/fundraising/

In addition we are offering a list of fund-raising ideas for 
helping schools and potential participants to pay, for 
instance, for their flights. This list we have copied from 
IDEC 2003. 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/fundraising/#2

We are grateful for any hints and suggestions. You can also 
ring us and talk to us personally about particulars. 
-> Telephone +49 (0)30 - 40 39 33 40


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5.  Publicity

It is now about nineteen weeks until the IDEC in Berlin. It 
is time to announce the IDEC in magazines, newsletters and 
on the internet. We will be grateful for your assistance.

a) 
This letter should be forwarded. It is also available on 
line at: 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/newsletter/

b) 
We can send printed flyers by post: 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/downloads/, German or English

To order them all you need to do is to send an email to 
info@idec2005.org with your address and the number you need.

c) 
The information should be passed on to the press. 
Individual contributions and personal interviews with 
journalists are particularly effective.

d) 
We have created an internet banner, which can be linked 
on internet pages, for instance those of democratic schools: 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/downloads 
Please pass this information on to your webmaster.

e) 
Furthermore, we hope and recommend that everyone who is 
interested will subscribe to our newsletter: 
-> http://en.idec2005.org/newsletter/


We have illustrated our website with pictures by a well-
known artist. The cartoons are available in English and 
German, which might be an opportunity for language-learning. 
-> http://idec2005.org/

With good wishes from the steering group, 
Mike Weimann